The Greens cannot afford to be anything less than a professional, credible and ready-to-win party
Zack Polanski (Credit: PA Images)
3 min read
When I joined the Green Party as CEO earlier this year, I knew I was stepping into a moment of great challenge and even greater opportunity – for the party and the country.
The climate crisis is accelerating, social injustice is deepening, and our political system is floundering. In the midst of this turbulence, the Green Party is growing, winning and demonstrating that we can be the force for change for which so many people are crying out.
We just elected a new leadership team and reached an all-time high of 863 councillors and over 72,000 members. We’re growing every day because people feel the urgency of the climate emergency and believe in a politics where no one is left behind. As we shift gear into an even more serious political force, we are determined to build the internal structures to match our ambitions and solidify all our gains.
When I speak to people coming to a meeting for the first time, or to seasoned campaigners, the message is the same: we have to seize this moment. So, my focus is to nurture our noisy, democratic principles in the party, to find new ways to disagree agreeably, while at the same time professionalising, to have both solid operational foundations and agility.
The party feels like a 50-year-old start-up
The key is developing our campaign capacity in Parliament. Our two peers and four MPs are making their mark. Now we will develop the professional campaign infrastructure that can amplify their parliamentary work and co-ordinate with our councillors, members and activists across the country who are hungry to get stuck into campaigns for change that cut through.
We are also boosting our policy capacity. Think Greens and many think of our visionary approach to the climate crisis. But we are investing in the people and expertise to take that further, developing the detailed, practical policies to help us hit the ground running whenever elected. Whether it’s universal free childcare, public ownership of water, or wealth taxes on the super-rich, we are demonstrating that Green policies are not just bold but economically credible and socially transformative.
Zack Polanski has shot to national attention, showing every day how bold politics looks. And we are matching that excitement with boldness behind the scenes too. The party feels like a 50-year-old start-up. We have deep roots and expertise built over decades of engaging with communities across the country and delivering results for people and for nature. And we have the verve, excitement and agility of a start-up, flying along, attracting new interest, voters, members – and funders.
We know we need to scale up our fundraising to run modern, impactful campaigns, and invest in the professional staff, digital tools, and the training and support our activists need on the ground.
We are as serious about building a party capable of winning and exercising power as we are serious about tackling social and climate injustices. We cannot afford to be anything less than a professional, credible and ready-to-win party with diverse candidates representing the whole country. The signs are there that the public is ready for us. More than one in ten people now say they would vote Green in a general election. Local breakthroughs are multiplying. The proportional Senedd elections in Wales in 2026 offer our best chance yet of entering that devolved parliament, and we are setting our sights firmly on that goal.
The two party deadlock on our political system is over – and people are ready for something new. I am excited that we are offering a principled, increasingly-popular and genuine alternative to the status quo.
Harriet Lamb, Chief executive officer of the Green Party England and Wales
